Dream Theater Announce ‘The Astonishing’ Album Title

Yesterday (Nov. 2) Dream Theater made an interesting announcement that they will be playing their new album in its entirety on their upcoming 2016 European tour despite not giving any details about the album like the title or even the release date. Today, they have confirmed the new album will be called The Astonishing following a leak on tour posters from European promoters.

The band's 13th studio effort will be the third with drummer Mike Mangini, who replaced Mike Portnoy following internal disagreements. Once again recording at Cove City Sounds Studios in New York, guitarist John Petrucci told Revolver in September, "We did the last couple albums there. It’s a great spot for us. It’s not too far from where I live and it’s where the band originated. It’s like home away from home for us."

While it was too early in the process to tell how the album will take shape, he discussed what made the writing so exciting, stating, “A new album project is like a fresh and inspiring blank canvas and I love that every couple of years you have the opportunity of reinventing, trying something new and starting from scratch."

Realizing there are certain limitations and expectations despite the band's out of the box nature, he went on, "But given the history of the band, you do have to take all of that into account and consider what we’ve done already, what we haven’t explored yet and what will not only keep us interested and fired up, but will also keep people who listen to the band excited, as well." Entering what will be 30 years of Dream Theater, he realizes, "You really have to deliver the goods -- you can’t rest on your laurels, you can’t get lazy."

Dream Theater are eyeing an early 2016 release according to James Labrie in an interview over the summer.

See Where John Petrucci Ranks Among the Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time